The Carnival Of Rust
by GreenFairyHime
Summary: Because without your love my life ain't nothing but this carnival of rust... A collection of xxxHOLiC stories, rated for the horror elements, the most of the stories will contain them.
1. Chapter 1 The Two Sisters

Alright, this will hopefully be a collection of short xxxHOLIC-stories. This first chapter was inpired by a Korean horror movie called "The Tale Of Two Sisters", I think it's a really good movie and it's worth of checking out! Any way, I hope you'll enjoy this!

**Chapter 1: The Two Sisters**

It was a normal day of rainy season, at least as normal as day can be when you're working for Yûko Ichihara. Watanuki was doing his daily chores in Yûko's shop when he heard a faint knock at the door.

When he opened the door, he saw an elegant middle-aged woman standing in the rain with an umbrella on her right hand. She looked carefully at Watanuki.

"Is this the shop where wishes are granted? Can you really do that?" She suddenly blurted out.

"I can do that. I'm the owner of this shop," Yûko was suddenly standing behind Watanuki and grabbed his elbows.

"Why do you DO THAT? You're creeping me out!" Watanuki whined to his employer and tried to escape Yûko's touch.

"Be careful, Watanuki. Try to stay out of this," Yûko whispered to his ear.

Before Watanuki could answer anything, Yûko was gone and already talking to her customer.

"Come inside, we can talk here inside," the lady looked unsure as she came inside carefully looking around her.

Then Watanuki realized that the lady wasn't alone. There was still a young woman standing on the doorway with an umbrella.

"Satsuki, come inside, you'll get sick standing like that on the rain," the lady said to the girl, who didn't show any reaction to woman's plea.

"I'm sorry, my daughter is sometimes like that..." the woman laughed nervously.

"You don't need to explain anything," Yûko replied her nonchalantly.

"Are you sure you don't want to come inside? I can make a nice cup of hot tea," Watanuki tried to convice the emotionless looking girl called Satsuki.

She looked at Watanuki for a moment, then she stepped inside and put away her umbrella. Watanuki took off her coat when she turned back to the door and it almost seemed as if she gave her hand to someone.

First Watanuki thought he was out of his mind when he saw that Satsuki was holding hands with a young girl who was barefeet and dressed only in a white nightgown even though it was quite cold outside. But the most disturbing thing was that girl's nightgown was covered with blood and the blood was also dripping from her legs.

"What the-?" Watanuki gasped.

"You may go to the living room with your daughter, Watanuki will soon bring some tea," Yûko showed the way to the livingroom to her customers and then turned back to Watanuki.

"Watanuki," Yûko called him with a stern voice.

"¨Yûko-san, there's a... A bloody girl with that woman called Satsuki..." terrified Watanuki explained.

"She's a spirit, I thought you would see her... Be careful, Watanuki, and let me handle this. It's more complicated then it seems. Don't cut in. And if you're as curious as I think you are, you may listen behind the door as long as they won't notice you," Yûko adviced him and gave him a playful grin during the last sentence. She was gone before Watanuki could answer anything.

"Curious? There's a bloody spirit of a dead girl in her livingroom and she only thinks that I'm being curious if I want to know what's going on..." Watanuki mumbled angrily as he prepared the tea.

When he entered the livingroom to serve the tea nobody said a word. Everyone was sitting still, Yûko looking as etheric as usuallly, Satsuki was looking emotionless as the spirit which was standing behind her and the lady looked still nervous.

"Thank you, Watanuki. Leave it to the table and you may go then," Yûko said softly to him.

Watanuki nodded and put the tray carefully to the table before he left the room.

Even though he was still somewhat insulted of Yûko calling him curious he decided to stay behind the door so that he would hear and see from the gap between the sliding doors what was happening.

"So what is that you wish for?" Yûko asked when all the three of them were were drinking tea.

"It's quite a long story..." the lady was hesitaiting.

"Go on," Yûko commanded her.

"Well, my younger daughter Sui died 8 years ago in a... A-an accident and it was... Quite a shock, especially for Satsuki who was really close with her... It was really hard and we, I mean me and my husband, had to put Satsuki into mental hospital in order to protect the others and her from herself... Few weeks ago Satsuki was realesed from the hospital and there have been... Strange things happening in our house after that... What I wish for is that you could take away what ever is paining Satsuki... I wish that things would go back to normal..." The older woman mumbled and looked at her hands.

"What is that which is paining you, Satsuki?" Yûko went closer to Satsuki and took her chin into her hand and looked at her eyes.

"N-nothing... It's just that... Sui's still with me... She's with me all the time, every where... Mother won't believe me, she never has..." The confused young woman tried to explain as the spirit still loomed behind her.

"She's DEAD, Satsuki! DEAD! What you're saying makes no sense!" Satsuki's mother screamed at her and the girl in return lowered her head so that her black hair was covering her face completely.

"Say, how did your daughter die?" Yûko asked calmly from the lady almost as if the whole scene had not happened.

"She had problems with her health, she was mentally unstable. It was an accident she caused by herself, I think she didn't mean it, but she died nevertheless..."

"She died because of you... You could have helped her but you did nothing, you always hated her... She was your daughter and you let her die..." Satsuki was glaring at her mother behind her hair.

"How can you say that, I would have helped her if I could have!" The woman's face was full of hatred.

"Sui can't rest in peace because of you! No matter what you do you will carry the burden of her death on your shoulders!" Satsuki snapped back.

"I'm sick of hearing that from you! I'm sick of all these strange things! And I'm sick of your so-called ghost!" The woman yelled back.

"But I'm not the only one who sees Sui... Some guests that has visited our house lately have also claimed that they have seen Sui in the house... I'm not crazy, even the boy who works in this shop saw her! I know he did, I saw his reaction!" Sui tried to convince Yûko as tears were falling down her cheeks.

"So he saw Sui, huh? We can call him back and ask him if he did see her, can't we?" The woman suggested with a devilish smile which proved that she didn't believe her daughter.

Watanuki winced at the idea of becoming a tool in their fight. But before he did anything, Yûko, who had remained silent while the two women had fought, started to talk.

"I wish you would keep Watanuki out of this, he has nothing to do with your problems," Yûko said coldly to the lady, who mumbled her apologies in return.

'Did Yûko mean this when she told me to be careful? Did she know this?' Once again Watanuki wondered what exactly Yûko Ichihara was capable of.

"I think we're missing the point here. So you want me to grant your wish?" Yûko asked with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Yes, I do", the woman answered with confident.

"And what was your wish again?" Yûko looked at the woman intensively through her thick lashes.

"I wish that this "ghost" would stop paining Satsuki and our family."

"What would you give in order to make your wish come true?" Yüko asked as she sipped her tea.

"Anything," the woman answered with no trace of hesitation.

"You say that all too easily, but I shall grant your wish", Yûko put her tea cup away and stood up gracefully. She went straight to Satsuki and kneeled in front of her. She touched gently her forehead and the the spirit behind her started to vanish. "Mother, why...?" Watanuki could hear the spirit moan quietly before she was gone completely.

"She's gone," Yûko confirmed the lady as she stood up.

"Thank God... Will Satsuki be alright?" She looked at her daughter who looked pale and somewhat confused.

"She just needs to rest, she will be fine in few days,Yûko answered as the woman kneeled next to Satsuki.

"Mother, what happened...? Where am I...?" The puzzled looking girl asked.

"It's alright dear, everything will be just alright..."The woman hushed.

"So what is the price for this?" The woman suddenly remembered and looked back at Yûko.

"You must destroy everything related to Sui and all her property," Yûko answered as she looked at the woman and her daughter.

"But that... That is... Impossible..." For the first time the woman started to hesitate.

"You said you would do anything," Yûko answered emotionlessly.

"Yes, but... What happens if I don't?" the lady stood up and helped her almost unconscious daughter to her feet.

"If Satsuki sees something that used to be Sui's or something that reminds Satsuki of her sister, it is likely that Sui will come back and things will get even more out of hands than before. Do you understand?" Yüko made sure as they walked together to the door.

"Yes... Yes, I do.. Thank you," The woman whsipered and bowed lightly and she still holding her daughter. Then she took their umbrellas and stepped outside of the door that Yûko had opened.

Yüko sighed as she closed the door.

"Yûko-san?" Watanuki came to the lobby when he heard that Yûko shut the frontdoor.

"Yes Watanuki, what is it?" Yûko turned to the boy.

"Do you really think that the lady had something to do with her daughter's death?" Watanuki couldn't help thinking of it.

"It seems very likely. The world is full of tragedies like that and there is even more of that kind of people who are willing to do anything in order to forget about their past. But the truth is that you can never escape from your past. It will always come back to haunt you. Your past will always be part you, like it or not. Remember it, Watanuki, and you'll be a bit wiser than the most of the people," Yüko finished one of her famous speeches.

"Watanuki...?" Yûko called him as he was still deep in his thoughts.

"Yes, Yüko-san?" He asked a bit taken aback.

"Did you forget something in the oven...? It smells like something's burning," Yûko sniffed.

"Oh nooooooo! The cake! My masterpiece!" Watanuki screamed as he hurried to the kitchen.

Yûko smiled warmly as she looked Watanuki go.

"We still have such a long way to go, Watanuki. But no need to worry. This is turning out well. Very well."


	2. Chapter 2 Anything For His Love

**Chapter 2: Anything for his love**

It was few days after the Valetine's day when the woman appeared to Yüko's shop.

She looked so sad and lonely that Watanuki, who was working at the shop as usually, felt really bad for her.

Among his other chores, he was also serving the tea for Yüko and her customer. That way, he also heard what they were talking about.

"You can make wishes come true, can't you?" the young woman asked desperately, playing nervously with her short brown hair.

"For a certain price, yes", Yüko pointed out and the woman sighed with relief.

"Please, make my wish come true! I'll give you anything!" woman pleaded

"I'm sure you'd do that", Yüko replied dryly and then asked:"So what is that you wish for?"

"There' s a man, I love him... I've loved him so long, but he doesn't even notice me! I want him! I want him to love me! This is killing me, I can't sleep, I can't eat, I only think about him all the time!" the woman bursted out suddenly.

"I want him to love me! Please make my wish come true!" The woman asked again, looking so obsessed that Watanuki was starting to feel strange. That seemed so suspicious, some how...

Yüko was smoking her pipe, looking absent-minded.

"There's a price. Those earrings you have", Yüko simply stated and the woman blinked her eyes.

"These...?" She touched gently another one of the earrings, looking a bit taken aback.

"...But these have been in our family for ages... My mother wore these earrings at her wedding and her mother before her and..." The woman explained nervously as she played with her earrings.

"That's the price", Yüko looked at the woman with no emotion to be seen.

The woman hesitated for a moment and then she simply nodded and took off her earrings.

As she handed them to Yüko, Yüko stated:"Your wish has been granted."

The woman shut her eyes and sighed happily.

"Thank you so much..." the woman smiled as she got up and bowed at her.

After a while when Yüko still hadn't replied the woman was obviously starting to feel uneasy and prepared to leave.

"Well, I'll be going now. Thank you again!" The woman waved her hand still smiling as she left the tea room.

"I wonder if she'll be happy now", Watanuki wondered aloud as he heard the out door shut.

"You'll find out. I have the feeling that this won't be last time we see her", Yüko answered, obviously still deep in her thought.

Her remark made chills go down Watanuki's spine.

It seemed that this wasn't going to end well.

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Almost exactly week after her first visit, the woman returned to the shop.

She looked really scared and nervous, and was constantly playing with the ring on her pinky finger.

She didn't have the ring last time, so Watanuki knew it had to be from the man she loved.

"So did you wish come true?" Yüko asked nonchalantly as Watanuki served the tea once again.

"Y-yes, it... It did... But..." The woman stuttered, looking even more nervous.

"But?" Yûko encouraged the woman to continue.

"His, my boyfriend's, ex-girlfriend... She... She killed herself after... He left her..." the woman was struggling to continue and to burst out crying.

"It can't be my fault, r-right? She did that herself, didn't she?" The woman asked suddenly, looking at Yüko.

Yûko smoked her pipe and after a moment answered:

"True, it was her own decision."

The woman looked relieved and sighed. She was already about to say something when Yüko continued.

"But it was your wish that drove her to that state of mind. You knew that she was dating with the man you loved. That way, it was the outcome of your wish."

Watanuki stared at the woman, speechless. How could she wish for something like that if she knew the man was already dating?

The woman looked absolutely horrified.

"But I didn't want her to die ! I didn't mean it!" the woman exclaimed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Maybe you didn't, but it really doesn't matter. She's already dead," Yûko replied emotionlessly, and the woman sobbed even more.

"What you should realize, is that if you wish for something, there's always the outcome. The good and the bad. Did you even once stop to think how your wish would effect on the other people? That way, you have no one but yourself to blame", Yüko answered, finally looking straight at the woman.

"W-what s-should I d-do know?" the woman sobbed among her tears.

"There's really nothing to do. She's dead, isn't she?" Yüko replied harshly and the woman buried her face to her hands, crying even more.

Then Yüko got up, went closer to the woman and pulled her face near.

"But you got your wish, didn't you? That's the most important thing, right?" Yüko breathed.

-A/N: Sorry this took so long, I've been so busy with my studies, I'm so stressed right now.(Okay, I've been making my cosplay costume also, but now it's finished. I'm going to cosplay Yûko-san! Yay!) the idea for this story had been in my mind for a long time, so i finally decided to write it down.

Thank you for those who review, without you I wouldn't have continued the story. Some of you asked me to tell more about the two sisters, so now I'm asking if i should get back to them? I can do that if you wish for it. Opinions are appreciated!

By the way, the name 'Carnival Of Rust' is actually a really good song by Poets Of The Fall . It's really amazing!


	3. Chapter 3 The Well

**Chapter 3: The Well**

Watanuki was walking from the school to Yûko's place as usually, cursing to himself how selfish Yüko was. He was forced to take different route than usually, because he had had to buy more sake to Yüko. But suddenly he noticed a young woman, standing in front of an old well, looking inside of it.  
The first thing Watanuki noticed, was the girl's eyes.  
There were something strange in them, like they were empty, made of glass...  
There was something that wasn't right and it was creeping him out.  
But Watanuki Kimihiro was that sort of guy who always wanted to help the others and he knew this girl needed help.

"Are you alright?" Watanuki smiled at the girl as he walked closer

Y-yeah, I guess..." The girl looked startled.

"Are you sure? I have this... Friend, I think she could help you," Watanuki suggested, he was sure this was something Yüko could deal with.

"Help...? You mean she's some sort of a psychologist...?" The girl's face darkened with anger.

"No! No, she's nothing like that... She... Well, it's hard to explain, but... You should just meet her in person," Watanuki finished uncertainly.  
After a moment of hesitation, the girl decided to come with Watanuki.

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As they walked towards Yûko's place, Watanuki tried to talk with the girl, but she hardly responded and kept her gaze on the ground. Some how, the girl reminded him of the older sister of the twins he had met some months ago.  
And to be honest, he wasn't pleased with that, to think of what kind of problems she had had. .

It didn't surprise him at all when he saw thatYüko was already waiting for them at the veranda.  
It seemed that Yûko had a sixth sense when it came to situations like this.  
Actually Watanuki was quite certain that Yûko had some sort of sixth sense, even though he didn't want to know anything about it.  
Some things were better to be kept as secrets.

"I-I'm sorry, I have no idea why I came here, but... He told me you could help," the girl looked at Yüko carefully.

"So he did, huh?" Yûko replied with a strange tone. It was inpossible to tell if she was pleased or not. For a moment, Watanuki wondered had it been wise at all to ask the girl to come.  
But then the moment passed and Yüko asked casually the girl to come in.

The girl looked around her, obviously uneasy because of the surroundings. The situation seemed difficult to her, somehow.  
Yûko led the girl to the tea room, as Watanuki called the room where was the creepy old clock.

"Now, tell me, what is your problem? That is why you are here, is it not?" Yûko asked as the girl and herself were seated.

"Yûko-san, do you want me to make tea for the two you?" Watanuki interrupted, looking nervous as he had nothing to do.

Yûko didn't reply, she merely looked at the girl, who nodded shyly after a while and mumbled:"That would be wonderful."

Watanuki went to the kitchen to prepare the tea, but also listened to Yûko's conversation with her client at the same time.  
Watanuki was way too curious for he's own good, even if he would never admit that.

"It's about the... The well," The girl whispered after few moments had passed.  
Yûko said nothing, so the girl continued.

"It's that damn well... It feels like it's calling me and before I notice, I'm there again... It's creeping me out. And sometimes, I think I'm seeing a..._ Hand _in the well!" The girl explained.

"Is that all?" Yûko simply asked, which surprised Watanuki. Wasn't it enough what the girl had told?

"N-no, sometimes I'm hearing voices, it tells me to jump down to the well and that I'll only have the peace down there... You do believe me, don't you?" The girl pleaded.

Suddenly Watanuki felt extremly tired, like he had seen this situation hundreds of times before. All those girls and women who had been here before this one, begging for Yûko's understanding or help.  
He wondered if Yûko was feeling something like that.

"I do. The voice is saying you'll only have the peace down there, so that means you're unsatistisfied with your current life, right? Why is that?" Yûko asked and for a while, nothing could be heard expect the never ending ticking of the clock.

"What do you mean?" The girl asked as if she didn't understand the question.

"You are trying to solve your problems wrong way. Instead of thinking of the well, you should think of why do you let it call for you? You don't have to go to the well, you could as well stay where ever you are at the moment," Yüko was talking with a soothing tone.

"But the well..." Th girl tried to explain, but Yûko cut in.

"Don't think about the well, think about yourself, that is the most important thing. You have the freedom to choose, you always have. That is a right we all have and you should use it. If your life doesn't satisfy you, you have to do something by yourself. Don't just stay on you're place, wondering why all is going wrong if you haven't even tried to change anything," Yûko ended one of her infamous monologues.  
Watanuki wondered if she was really talking about the wel anymorel.

"But..." The girl sounded startled, not prepared to hear what she had heard.

"Besides, you don't even have to walk past the well if you don't want to? It isn't located near your house," Yüko remarked.

"R-right..." The girl still seemed to hesitate.

"You know what to do," Yüko reassured as the girl slowly got up and walked towards the door.

"T'hank you, how can I pay...?" The girl begun as she walked to the front door with Yüko.

"You don't have to pay, so don't worry about it," Yûko answered and opened the front door.

"All right then, thank you very much," the girl thanked before she left.  
And as soon as she was gone, Watanuki went to Yüko.

"What was that about? Wasn't she cursed or something?" Watanuki looked at Yûko, then at the door and then back at Yüko again.

"If she was cursed, it was herself who made the curse," Yûko was obviusly deep in her thought.

"What do you mean 'she cursed herself''?" Watanuki didn't understand at all what Yûko was talking about.

"She wasn't cursed, her own depression and insecurity had driven her into that state," Yûko explained.

"But.. The well?" Watanuki still didn't follow.

"It was something she made up herself unconsciously ,that way it was easier for her to understand. Watanuki, you see that kind of people everywhere. People, who has been tied down by themselves, their depression and insecurity. They don't know how to handle their feelings, that's why it ends up like in that girl's situation. In the end, there isn't much that me or anybody else can do for her, she'll have to learn to help herself. And I've already done all I can do," Yûko told him patiently.

"So there was nothing wrong with that well then?" Watanuki made sure.

"No, there wasn't. By the way. are you going to do something before my tea pot is all burned?" Yüko made an innocent remark.

"WAAAAH! The tea pot!" Watanuki stomped back to the kitchen.

"You should have reminded me earlier, Yüko-san! And why didn't you tell me if you knew that she wasn't going to stay for the tea?" Watanuki yelled angrily from the kitchen where he tried to save the remainings of Yûko's tea pot.

"It was the girl's choice to ask for the tea. And I don't need to remind you, it was your job to take care of the tea," Watanuki heard Yüko's reply.

"Besides, you're so amusing while you're angry! It's so much fun!" Yüko chirped happily.

"_THAT WAS YOUR REAL REASON_? Yûko-san, honestly, you're so selfish!" Watanuki yelled, but Yüko barely laughed.

-A/N: I got the idea for the well part from an old Chinese novel, but once again, I decided to make it more realistic.I know, the category of these stories is horror, but I like more psychological stuff. Besides, I'm planning to make a new chapter of the two sisters. (I've already got the ideas for the next tho chapters)I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't good, but I've got pretty hard time lately and I've been kinda depressed. My life is just pretty stressing right now, I hope you'll understand!


	4. Chapter 4 The Tragic Past

- A/N: Some of you have requested that the past of the two sisters should be revealed, so here's a new chapter about them. I hope you'll enjoy!

**Chapter 4: The Tragic Past Of The Two Sisters**

It had been almost two months since they had visited Yûko's shop last time.  
Watanuki recognized immediately the middle-aged lady with her daughter Satsuki...  
And the ghost of her dead daughter was also there.  
Even though Yûko had got rid of the spirit, it was there again.

'So the lady wasn't able to fulfill the contract after all...' Watanuki wondered as the woman got in with Satsuki. The ghost of the other girl, Sui, followed Satsuki silently. Now she was even more creepy than before. She was dressed up in the same nightgown covered with blood as before, but her figure had got less transparent...That coulnd't be a good thing.

"We're sorry to bother you again, but.." The woman looked extremely nervous as she started to speak.

"But?" Yûko repeated with a cold voice.

"We need your help, again," the lady tried to smile nervously as she spoke.

"All right. Follow me," Yûko asked and went to the direction of the tearoom.

All of them, the woman, her living daughter and the dead one, followed Yûko. Even though it was somewhat disturbing and grotesque thing to see, there was something disturbingly amusing in it.  
But it didn't amuse Watamuki at all when the dead girl, Sui, gave him a long look as she quietly passed him.

The look she gave froze Watanuki completely. After few moments of hesistating, he decided to follow them to the tearoom.  
He couldn't leave Yûko-san alone with such a strange people.  
And maybe he was just a bit curious to hear what they talked about.  
...And he could always go to listen from behind of the door, right?

When Watanuki took his position behind the door, he heard that the lady was already talking to Yûko.  
"...I got rid of all her remainings, just as you told me to do... Well, I thought so, but then Satsuki found Sui's old diary. And everything got worse then. It was so peaceful when Satsuki wasn't babbling about Sui all the time, but now the situation is worse than ever. Everybody's convinced that our house is haunted just because there have been some strange events..." The woman tried to avoid having an eye contact with Yûko as she nervously played with her necklace.

"Tell me, why is it so that Sui's spirit wants to stay among the living even now that she has been dead for a quite long time?" Yûko suddenly asked as she leaned forward.

"W-what do you mean?" Suddenly the woman looked suspiciously afraid.

"She wants to know how Sui died, mother. Tell her," Watanuki heard Satsuki's quiet voice. A voice full of bitterness.  
Watanuki quietly slid the door open just a bit so he could see what was happening.  
He noticed that Sui's figure was stading quietly behind her mother, though it seemed that she was ready to do anything to her mother...

"Oh, well... Sui always had problems with her mental state and it was always so hard to predict how she woul react, when she was upset. That day she was upset because she had fought with Satsuki..." The lady gave Satsuki a strange, almost malicious look. It made Satsuki sink deeper into her chair with a guilty look on her face.

"Anyway, I wasn't at home that night, I had an ikebana class. My husband thought that Sui had gone to bed early, but she had actually left the house, only in her nightgown... It seems that some mentally unstable person attacked her and stabbed her body several times. My husband called the police immediately when he noticed that Sui was gone, but it was too late... Her body was found from the park on the next morning. It was so terrible, I had never been so terrified... To come back home only to hear that my daughter was missing..." The lady had had extremely welll control over herself, but now she covered her face with her hands.

"You're lying. It was you who killed Sui! The murderer was never found because of that! Your class ended earlier than usually that day! You can lie as much as you like, but it will still be a lie!" Satsuki suddenly yelled at her mother and hit the table with her fist.

"I was stuck in a traffic, I have told you that hundred of times before! Why do you keep saying those ridicilous things?" The lady tried to keep her voice stable, but it was obvious that she was furious. Suddenly her sadness that was supposed to be there was completely gone.

"What I say isn't ridicilous and you know it! But I just can't understand how you could kill Sui, she didn't do anything...! You were supposed to take care of her and love her! You were her mother!" Satsuki yelled at her mother and Sui's spirit came nearer to the woman.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to be her mother and to try to love her? She was always so difficult, she always needed to be understanded, forgiven, she always needed to be handled with care... Just because she had her 'mental issues'. All I wanted was a normal family, with normal life, normal children... Everybody else had them, all those things! And they were always talking how I couldn't be a good mother, I couldn't take care of my children..I just couldn't take it! Was that so wrong?!?" The woman fianlly snapped.

"Killing your daughter, that was wrong," Yûko silently answered. The woman looked at her with fear

"Taking someone's life is always a heavy burden, heavy enough to crush one. Killing your own child, that is even worse," Yûko went on and looked at the woman and the ghost behind her.

"I don't want to hear that! I just want to know if you can help me or not? What should I do to get my wish granted?" The woman answered, full of rage.

"And your wish is?" Yûko asked with her casual, silky tone.

"To get rid of that thing that keeps haunting me, of course! To have a normal life again!" The woman snapped.

The ghost moved closer to the woman and quietly whispered:

"...Mother... How... Could you...?"

The woman swung her head to her direction and took fearful a glance.

"Wha-what was that...?" She asked as she looked carefully behind.

Yüko didn't pay any attention to her last remark, but instead told her firmly:  
"You weren't able to give the compensation at the first place. You didn't fulfill our first contract, which means that your wish cannot be granted."

"You... You won't help me? Nobody else can, I have tried everything! I need you to..." the woman pleaded. Satsuki had got up and went next to Sui. Both of them looked at their mother with expressionless faces.

"You need me to what? Save you? Nobody else can do that, expect you. By telling the truth to the police," Yûko replied, Watanuki could notice a hint of anger in her features.

"No, no way..." The woman sobbed quietly.

After a few moments of silence she finally got up and tried to pull herself together.

"It seems that I have taken up your time because of nothing. I'm sorry. We should leave, Satsuki," she called her daughter stiffly.

"Of course, mother. It seems to me that even you can't do as you please all the time, _mother_," Satsuki answered mockingly, but followed her mother nevertheless.

And the ghost follow the girl quietly after giving a final look to Watanuki's direction.

It made Watanuki's blood run cold. It seemed as if the ghost wanted to say something to him.

But he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"I guess they won't need to be showed to the door.." Yûko muttered and leaned back in her chair.

"Yûko-san, why didn't the police arrest that woman before? I'm sure they could have find out that she is the murderer," Watanuki asked as he popped to the room from the place he had been hiding in.

"It is quite hard to blame a woman who has lost her daughter, most of the people would immediately think that she could not commit such a crime. Besides, that woman is part of a family that has a good reputation and a great deal of influence.It would become a political matter, if the woman would turn out to be a murderer of her own daughter, no less," Yüko expalined as she stared the place where the woman had been sitting only a moment ago.

"Do you think that woman will go to confess to the police as you told her to do?" Watanuki looked at his employer.

"Most likely not. She won't do that from her free will," Yûko replied and shook her head lightly.

"But she needs to be punished!" Watanuki looked at her with shock.

"Oh, she will be even if the police won't catch her. I believe that both Satsuki and Sui will make sure of that," Yûko put thoughtfully her hand to her beautiful chin.

"And it means...?" Watanuki asked unsurely.

"It means that those girls will haunt and pain her until she loses her mind or commits a suicide. I have told you Watanuki: A murder is a burden heavy enough to crush one. And most likely, it will crush one, eventually. You cannot escape from yourself and your past is part your very soul. Always keep that in mind, Watanuki," Yûko looked intesievely at her worker, but the boy didn't answer.

Yûko knew though that Watanuki had understood.  
He always did, eventually.

- A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated for such a long time, but I had personal problems and lack of inspiration.  
Which reminds me, I would kindly ask you to review if you would like to see me continue with this story. I f I won't have enough reviews, I may stop writing this. I have planned this to be way longer, but having no reviews brings me really down.  
Thank you for your time!


	5. Chapter 5 Like A Mother, Like A Daughter

**Chapter 5: Like A Mother, Like A Daugther**

First thing Yûko had asked him to do as he had arrived into her shop, was to make some tea and something to go with it. Yûko had announced that her customer was about to arrive soon.  
Watanuki (once again) didn't even want to know how she could already know. She hadn't use the phone or anything that a normal person would use.  
Oh no, way too simple for miss Yüko Ichihara, that was for sure.

But it sometimes made him feel very uncomfortable, thinking of the strange powers his employer seemed to possess. Yûko just always seemed to know where the things were heading and that casual smirk of hers only made him feel worse.  
Sometimes, when he had a bad day ( and that was almost every day to be precise and this wasn't an exception), he was accustomed to think that Yûko was in fact running the whole world. It wouldn't amaze him at all...

"The reason why everything always ends up badly for me... Why it is so? Because we all are just puppets in Yûko's wicked masterplan..." Annoyed Watanuki mumbled to himself as he got the tea and the cake ready.

"You know how mean it is to talk things like that behind person's back?" Watanuki heard Yüko's voice behind him just a moment before the familiar rubber duck smacked his head.

"You heard me all along, so I wasn't talking behind you..." Watanuki replied as he rubbed the sore spot where Yûko had hit him.

"It was only because I happened to hear you, it did hurt my feelings though..." Yûko sniffed, trying to look devastated.

"Yeah right, not as much as you hurt my head..." Watanuki retorted and he was already waiting for the rubber duck's new attack, but instead he heard a voice of young woman calling: "I'm sorry, is anybody here?"  
Yûko abandoned her rubber duck to the kitchen and went to meet her client.

"So how can I serve you, it seems there is something you wish for?" Watanuki heard Yûko talking to her customer.

"This is the shop where the wished are granted, right? You can help me, can't you?" The woman asked, her voice sounding desperate.

"We'll grant any wish, for an equal compensation, that is. Come, let's go to the tearoom. Watanuki, the tea!" Watanuki heard Yûko calling him and took the tray with him as he went to the tearoom.  
He served the tea for the women, but didn't leave even after he was finished. Yûko did not say anything, so he thought it would be alright if he stayed in the room.

"It is that woman... She is what bothers me," The young lady begun as she took her teacup. Her hands were shaking so violently that she couldn't even drink her tea.

Yûko didn't respond in anyway, she simply waited for her to continue when she was ready.

"Most people think I should call her 'mother', but it takes more to be a mother than giving birth to a child. And that woman has no right to be called as my mother because she has made my world hell even before I was born. I knew I wasn't wanted even when I was in her womb. The only reason she didn't get rid of me back then was that she was too afraid to do an abortion. What a pathetic person! But she did make sure that I'd know she didn't want me, you know what name she gave me? Saseko (1. See the A/N note at the bottom) , that's a symbol of her love! I can't even use that name publically, I'm too embarrassed!" The woman cried, the forgotten teacup still on her arms.

Watanuki gasped as he heard the woman's name. What kind of a woman could name her child like that? He couldn't even imagine that and maybe he didn't even want to.

"Her husband got a divorce right after I was born, because I wasn't even his daughter. I was just a consequence of that woman's one night stand, so he didn't want to have anything to do with me or _my mother_, that lazy alcolholic with never-ending mental problems... That's why she has made me suffer from day to another, but I can't take it anymore!" Saseko banged the teacup to the table with such a force that for a moment, Watanuki was sure it would break.

Saseko buried her face to her hands and her short hair covered the rest of her face. She sniffed for a moment, but then she took a hold of herself again.

"And that is the reason why I wish this: I wish that my mother would never be happy again, I wish that she would stay locked up in that mental institution for the rest of her life and after she has lived a long, miserable life, she will die a slow and painful death. That is what I wish for. The question is, can you do that?" Saseko turned her gaze from her hands to Yûko.

Yûko sipped her tea casually for a moment before answering.

"I can do that... But are you willing to pay the price?" Yûko asked back as she put her cup to the table.

Saseko didn't reply, she only kept looking at Yüko.

"The price for your wish is that you cannot never again have a bond with another person or anything living. You cannot have a bond with a friend, lover or even an animal. You cannot have a husband nor can you have children. No bond with anyone. Is your wish worth that?" Yûko asked as she sipped her tea again.

For a moment Saseko remained silent but then she replied with a quiet but determined voice: "No matter what price I will have to pay, I want my wish to be granted."

"Well then, it is settled," Yûko answered and drank the last drops of her tea.

Saseko sighed and nodded. Then she took a small sip from her cup and then put it back to the table.

"Thank you for the tea, it was wonderful. And thank you for that... Other thing," Saseko muttered quietly the last part as she got up in order to leave.

"I should be going now", she bowed quickly before she left the room.  
She had hardly touched her tea.

"Shouldn't you have asked for her happiness as a compensation?" Watanuki asked with his brow frown.

"Ah good, you're beginning to understand. But there is a particular reason why I asked for her bonds with others. You see, it is almost impossible to live without other beings. It is a basic need for everybody to have connections with others and living without them is total pain. Can you imagine how lonely that is? Everybody needs to feel that they're wanted and they belong somewhere. But that particular young woman, Saseko, she cannot never again have friends, lovers, children or even household animals. She simply cannot make a bond with anyone and that's a terribly lonely fate," Yûko sighed as she took her opium pipe to her hands.

"What do you mean when you say 'she cannot have children'? Do you mean she cannot have bond with her children or...?" Watanuki didn't finish his question as he waited for Yûko's reply.

"She cannot have children, even if she would get pregnant, she'll lose the child in the end. Her pregnancy will end with a miscarriage or the child will be born dead. It will always end that way, and losing her child is almost unbearable for a woman..." Yûko replied with sad eyes.

"So you mean that she will be even more unhappy than if you had asked for her happiness, is that what you mean?" Watanuki made sure.

"This time you really do understand, don't you? Yes, that is what I mean. Even if we might think that she has the right to hate her mother, her wish was still cruel. If you wish that the one who you are from should live miserably and die a painful death, you have no rights to live a happy life either or have kind, loving people around you. She will understand it eventually but it's too late to change anything when she does..." Yûko shook her head lightly and the took a smoke from her pipe.

"That is so sad too see people like that though.." Watanuki shook his head. Then he put the dishes to the tray and took them to the kitchen.

Yûko smiled as she watched the boy leave._  
Such a gentle, compassionate one... I really do wish that everything will end up well for you, Watanuki Kimihiro. I do wish..._

* * *

1. A/N for the chapter:: The name 'Saseko'comes from the Japanese word 'sasego' which means public toilet. By giving her child that kind of name, Saseko's mother implies that people are free to use the girl for free. And that is a one way to call her a whore.

A/N: I want to thank those who have reviewed and inspired me to continue. Thank you so much for your kindness and understanding, it means a lot to me! Please keep reading and reviewing!  
Oh yeah, this chapter was once again about mother and daughter, but I just wanted to write this one down (partly becasue I have got major problems with my own mother lately...). But I promise taht the next cahper will be about something else!  
And then of course, I want to thank my always so wonderful beta-reader Kiseki Gurl, for helping me out and inspiring me. She's such a wonderful person!


	6. AN: Important!

**Author's Note **

No, this is not a real update. I just wanted to let you know that I'll but my works currently on hiatus.  
I have many reasons to do this. I have lots of worries with my studies and my relationships and it seems that I'm having serious problems with my health too.  
I'm really sorry, but I simply have no energy or time to write for a while now.

I hope you'll understand and I hope to see you around.  
Feel free to contact me if you have something to say to me!

With apologizies,

GreenFairyHime


	7. Chapter 6 The Uninvited Guests

No, I'm not dead (hopefully you weren't wishing that...), I've been just extremely busy. I know it sounds lame, but I've been sick a lot (I'm sick right now too), really stressed and depressed, not to mention all the crazy amount of work I've had (I'm hopefully gratuading this spring). So that's the reason, please forgive me! And now, finally to the story after a long pause**!  
**

**Chapter 6: The Uninvited Guests  
**

Sometimes Watanuki really wondered why the heck he had gone through all the trouble he had been in since he had started to work for Yûko. He could swear that the damn woman was testing him once again. Watanuki had worked all day for the witch: cleaning, washing dishes and cooking. And did Yûko say "thank you"? Did she appreciate it? Did she even notice his hard work?  
Pretty hard to say, because she had told him to make her some strawberry mochi only just because she had a craving for that! How lame was that?

"Seriously, she's the most selfish person I´ve met... How come she's that greedy and selfish?" Watanuki muttered as he danced around the kitchen trying to do as much as possible at the same time.

"You know, I can very well hear you. There´s nothing wrong with my ears," Yûko driely replied from the door.

"Waah, when did you get there?!? And honestly Yûko-san, stop sneaking around! Some of these days you're gonna give me an heart attack!" Watanuki lectured his employer who just remained in her position grinning smugly.

"Sneaking around in my own house? My my Watanuki, nobody says that except..." Yûko replied and then suddenly rushed forward. She took Watanuki's chin to her hand so he had to look her straight at her eyes.

"...Except if he has something to hide. You're trying to hide something, aren't you? Talking behind my back, eh?" Yûko teased.

"Aww, come on! I wasn't talking behind your back, you heard what I said! And I could say what I said straight to your face anytime!" Watanuki barked as he felt his face turning red. It was somehow akward being so close to Yûko, after all she was a woman (believe itor not).

"I'm sorry, but is there anybody here?" A foreign voice interrupted their childish conversation.

"Right here. How can I help you?" Yûko went to the corridor to greet the customer. Watanuki followed right behind her to catch a glimpse of her next victim.  
He was a young man in his mid-20s, a casual looking normal guy.  
'But that's pretty unnormal here... A man as a customer' Watanuki thought to himself as he studied the man.

"We can go over here to talk. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?" Yûko inquired politely as she guided the young man to the tearoom.

"Ahh, well... No, not right now," the man replied sounding very nervous as he gave Yûko a strange look.

"Is there something wrong?" Yûko asked him with a pleasent smile.

"No... Well... Is it really you who can grant wishes?" The man asked looking awestruck.

"Something wrong with that?" Yûko asked as she slightly rose her elegant eyebrows.

"No, no... I just expceted you to be a lot older and less..." the man left his sentence unfinished as he gave Yûko another look.  
Watanuki looked at the guy and then at Yûko. What the heck was the man aiming at?

"Is that so? I hope my appearance wasn't a dissappointment," Yûko replied as she gave him a devilish grin.

"Ah, no, not at all..." the man muttered as he nervously ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well, then if that's settled we can go to the business. Now tell me what can I do for you?" Yûko asked with her business-like tone as she laid back in her chair.

"Is it really alright if he stays here? Can you trust him?" The man asked, eyeing Watanuki suspiciously.

"I can go if you wish so.." Watanuki prepared to leave feeling more or less offended by the way he had been treated. The man was had been so cold and blunt. Had he really deserved all this commotion? He really didn't like that man, there wasn't just something in him...

"No, Watanuki can stay. He works for me and I trust in him," Yûko told the man with a tone that made it clear that she wouldn't argue about it.

"Oh, I see... Well, anyway, I came here because I have a problem. I see a strange thing, I know it sounds crazy, but I see two little girls sitting in my kitchen, leaning to the table and facing each other. Nobody else can see them, but I swear they are there! I had to go back to my parents' house because this is troubling me so much," the man explained looking suddenly very anxious.

"Are you able to see spirits and that sort of stuff?" Watanuki asked before he could stop himself. He was just fascinated by the thought of meeting somebody who could see the same things as he saw daily. Even if that person happened to be a total jerk like this guy.

"Erm, no, not at all. This is the first time I´ve seen anything like that. Do you really think they're spirits or ghosts?" The man looked at Watanuki and then at Yûko.

"It certainly seems so. When did this begin? Do you know the reason why the girls are in your apartment?" Yûko studied his face as she asked him the questions.

"It started somewhat 2 weeks ago when I saw... I saw the girls once before they appeared in my apartment. I saw them once in a park as I took a short-cut to home. I was coming from work and it was quite dark already, but I know I saw those girls in the park. A woman brought them there and made them sit on the bench. She said nothing to them and just went away, leaving the little girls there alone. They didn't even look too good, I thought to myself that they looked somehow sick and drowsy. I wondered for a moment if I should do soemthing, but then I just thought that it was none of my business. I went to home and forgot about it, but then... I woke up in the middle of the night and there they were. I saw the girls sitting in my kitchen just like they were sitting in the park," the man brought his trembling hands to his face and sighed.

"And then?" Yûko just pushed him to continue.

"The next morning I heard a newsreport on the radio and they talked about two little girls, who had been found from the park. They had been poisoned by their mother, who had just left them to die in the park," man continued as he started to tremble more and more.

"Didn't you do anything? Didn't you call the police and tell what you saw?" Watanuki asked him, wondering why the man hadn't done anything while he still could.

"As I told you, I wasn't sure if anything was wrong and the later on I just could say anything... I mean that they would certainly have blamed me for not saying anything!" the man defended himself fiercely.

"Have those girls done anything threatening or do they seem dangerous?" Yûko inquired.

"No, not yet at least, they just sit there their eyes closed all the time. I think it's threatening enough to have couple of dead kids sitting in your kitchen!" the man retorted.

"Have you asked them what they want?" Yûko paid no attention to what the man had just said.

"What?" the man asked obviously not understading what Yûko was aiming at.

"The girls, have you asked what they want?" Yûko replied.

"Well, no... Why should I? Geez... Anyway, what I want you to do is to make them go away. Can you do that?" the man pleaded from Yûko.

"I can... But if they aren't willing to leave as it now seems, they will come back sooner or later. And that is why you should ask them why they have come to your apartment. It's the only way to give them the rest and peace they need. You can only by yourself make those gilrs go away and put the end to this," Yûko stared at the man as if to make sure he had understood what she had just said.

"What? I have done nothing to them! Why do I need to do that?" The shocked man protested.

"Exactly, you did nothing to help them when you could. That is why you'll have to do sort this out," Yûko replied with a cool tone and Watanuki could swear she was getting annoyed with the man.

"I see... So you can't help me. Well, thanks anyway. I guess I should be going then if nothing can be done," the man stood up looking very annoyed, but Yûko told him once again before he went away:

"I could make them go away, but only for a little time. But something can be done and you can do it by yourself. You even know what you'll have to do. The rest it up to you."

"Yeah, right... Thanks again. I'll be going then," the man bowed slightly before he went away, still looking upset and obviosly not paying attention anymore to what Yûko had told him. Yûko sighed deeply as she and Watanuki listened to the man's steps, which were becoming more and more distant.

"What was up with that guy?" Watanuki thought aloud after nothing could be heard anymore.

"He doesn't understand his responsibility towards the others and does nothing to help them. Still he expects somebody else to help him out when he needs it. How pitiful," Yûko shook her head slightly as she spoke.

"You mean that the girls are following him because he didn't help them while he could have saved them?" Watanuki made sure.

"Yes, spirits of the dead usually are attracted to follow the person who either caused their death or could have save them while they were alive. And that man did nothing even after he heard the truth, only because he was afraid of what would happen to himself. But even without those girls, he would have got problems with his attitude towards the others sooner or later. What happened was hitsuzen(inevitable)", she explained slowly.

"Yûko-san, why did you want me to stay here when your customer obviously wanted me to leave?" Watanuki asked as he pondered Yûko's words.

"Because I want you to learn," Yûko simply replied and took her silver pipe from her sleeve.

"Learn what?" Watanuki asked feeling puzzled.

"As much as possible, I'm sure you´ll be needing it," Yûko placed some tobacco in the pipe, obviously not willing to continue.

Watanuki sighed as he looked at the witch. He wished to know more, but knew already that Yûko would tell him nothing more. It was written all over her face and Watanuki had enough experience of being around her to tell how she would react if he would try to pursuate her.

But on the other hand he trusted in Yûko's judgement and he was quite sure that she would tell everything he needed to know in time, when he was ready for it. Surely Yûko would know when the right time was, Watanuki just had to trust in her.

**- A/N**: I know, it wasn't my best chapter, but I had been playing around with this idea for a while. I got inspired but this Korean horror movie called "The Uninvited". (actually, to think about it, only the little girls are from that movie...Oh well.). Anyway, I thought I might as well post it since my beta-reader Kiseki Gurl said that she liked the chapter (Thanks for your help once again and happy birthday!). But I'm already planning my next chapter which will be most likely better and a bit different...  
Oh yes, another thing: I was wondering about my next project, because I was thinking of writing a YûkoxHimawari fic (xxxHOLiC needs more shoujo-ai!). I know it isn't typical stuff from me, but it would be an interesting challenge... And I already have the first chapter waiting on my desktop. I would like to write a fic about Yûko's past too, but that would be a massive project. So now all you have to do is give me your opinions: press the preview button, I'll only tell this to you once! And please don't flame me, feel some empathy towards the sick weakling! (Did some actually finish reading this...?)


	8. Chapter 7 The Unforgotten Grudge

**Chapter 7: The Unforgotten Grudge**

It was late in the afternoon when Yûko and Watanuki left the shop. It was quite extraordinary, because usually the clients came for Yûko and not the other way. But Yûko had insisted when tired Watanuki had arrived her shop straight after school, that they should leave immediately. She had already been waiting for him, all dressed up in an elaborate gown with a bag on her hand (which of course had been immediately handed over to Watanuki).

"We have to go now, before it gets late. When it gets dark, I'm not sure if I can protect us from her..." Yûko had murmured more to herself than to Watanuki. Of course Watanuki didn't have the slightest idea what Yûko had meant with all that cryptic talk, but it made him shiver anyway. Somehow he had the feeling that he should just trust in his employer once again.

Watanuki had had his hopes high, but when Yûko went to the all too familiar closet, his heart sank. Of course Yûko couldn't possibly act like normal people and take a taxi or bus. No, she had made her own passage to her closet. Just how lazy could she get?

Yûko was already waiting for him with the door open and she was looking at him with a questioning looking.

"What are you waiting for? Get in, we're already late," she nodded her head to the direction of the door. And so poor Watanuki gulped soundly before he entered the infamous aurora paths.

If there was something Watanuki hated more then cleaning up Yûko's treasure room, it had to be the aurora paths. The experience was simply too odd to describe and it always made the spirit sensitive Watanuki feel sick. All of his senses were just way too occupied with the spirits' presence.

Watanuki was relieved when he noticed that they had finally (after some time that had felt like an eternity for him, even though Yûko was insisting it had only been 5 minutes) reached the the end of their path. As they stepped out to the sun and Watanuki's lungs were filled with fresh air, he was sure that the worst part was already over. Unfortunantely, he was wrong.

"Where are we going?" Watanuki inquired from Yûko as he glanced around him. They had arrived to some part of Tokyo's suburb that he couldn't recgonize and it was hard to imagine what Yûko could possibly do there. It was so peaceful, lush and quiet over there. The houses were modernly designed and everything seemed perfectly normal.

"There," Yûko simply responded as she nodded to the direction of one house and started to walk towards it.

Watanuki followed her, even though his hesitation was growing with each step and his grip around Yûko's bag was also getting tighter. How could he had not noticed that house before? Well, it was almost covered with the trees of its garden, but still. There was something wrong with that place, something very wrong. Even though it looked just like the rest of the houses, maybe it seemed somehow abandoned, but otherwise it looked just like an ordinary house.

But surely it wasn't. Watanuki did certainly sense the evil aura around the house.

And even more curious was the fact that the house seemed somehow familiar to him, even though he could swear he had never been there before. He was certain that he had seen that creepy place somewhere...

"What the heck is up with this place...?" Watanuki whispered as they entered the gate of the house's garden.

"So you can sense it too? It's powerful, isn't it? Whatever you do, stay close to me and do not wander alone. That is the only way I can possibly protect you from her," Yûko answered quietly, apparently not even expecting Watanuki to respond. Instead, her gaze was already fixed on someone standing on the house's door.

Watanuki was rather ashtonished to see the man standing in the doorway. He didn't look anything like Yûko's other clients. He was rather serious-looking, chubby old man. He was wearing an expensive suit and the pearls of sweat were shining on his forehead. In fact, he looked like typical middle-aged office working man.

"Ah, Ichihara-san, I'm glad to meet you! Please be kind and help me." The man bowed politely when Yûko reached him. Yûko nodded her head slightly and obviously expected the man to continue, which confused the man a bit: she wasn't being very polite.

"Ichihara-san, I'm Kawashira from the residental agency," the man continued as he handed his business card over to Yûko, who didn't even take a one look at it and instead handed it over to Watanuki. (1) Kawashira seemed to be even more insulted by this, but he continued to talk anyway.

"I contacted you because I heard you have a great knowledge when it comes to spirits, ghosts and other supernatural issues. Am I correct?"

"You told me on the telephone that this house you want to sell is haunted and possessed by a vengeful spirit," Yûko replied calmly as she stepped inside and observed the house.

"Ah, yes. That's correct. In the past there have been some tragic events and lately has happened even more things that can't be explained," Kawashira responded, even though his explanations sounded quite lame.

"Hmm..." Yûko muttered as she stood in the entrance hall looking around her. Then Yûko went totally stiff for a moment before she seemed to make up her mind and took the direction of the stairs leading to the next level. Watanuki quietly followed her, even though he had never been more relucant to do that. Even though he had no apparant reason for it, he could feel the cold sweat on his brows and his pulse getting quicker.

And then he saw _it_.

It was more or less like a shadow looming in the darkness of the upper level of the house. It was terribly thin and white figure of a woman, whose long ragged black hair fell down right under her breasts. Even though her face could not be seen through her hair, her gaze seemed to be fixed on Watanuki. And it was filled with pure rage, malice and loneliness. Somehow Watanuki just knew that he could never escape from that gaze.

His terror made a lump on his throat and he couldn't move anymore. He just stood there, hoping that he would wake up and could tell Himawari-chan about his terrible nightmare.

Unfortunately he was awake. To make things even worse, he felt something touching his left foot. He carefully gazed down only to see a black cat passing him by. He almost let out a sigh of relief, it wasn't anything as creepy as he had feared for, but then he felt something icy cold touching his right hand.

It was a small boy, maybe 7-year-old, tugging his hand. But this boy was not out of this world, for his skin was white and had the same sickly blue tone as the woman's skin had. And his eyes were totally black, filled with vengefulness.

Just as Watanuki thought he was done for, that he couldn't possible stand this house anymore, he felt someone grabbing out his left hand pulling him onwards. He almost screamed, but before he had time to react in any way, he noticed that the someone had fortunately been Yûko.

"Don't look at them, especially not directly in their eyes. That way they'll know you can see them and you don't want to know what will happen then," Yûko hissed to his ear as she hurried him to upstairs. When they had reached the other level, they had to walk right pass the female's figure in order to get into a room Yûko wanted to enter. Watanuki couldn't even breath as they walked pass her because he was certain that the woman would get them, but suprisingly she didn't react in any way as they walked pass her.

"Yûko-san, what the hell is this? What is this place?" Watanuki angrily demanded from his employer, who simply shook her head as if to tell him that she would answer his questions later on.

'If we'll ever get out of this place, that is,' Watanuki thought dryly to himself and sighed.

At this time, Kawashira-san had made his way to the room too and was wiping his forehead with a hankerchief. The house seemed to make even him feel uneasy, or maybe it was this room, Watanuki noticed to himself. Somehow he had feeling that this very room had been witnessing gruesome scenes. Nothing actually really stood out there, the room itself was empty except the few closets in the other end of the room. It was just the feeling that hang in the air, but it was powerful anyway.

"This room is the center of everything, isn't it?" Yûko mumbled to herself.

"Well, I have heard that most of the unpleasent events are connected to this room on a way or another," Kawashira-san responded even though Yûko didn't seem to wait for him to answer.

"So you want me to find out if this house can be sold to anyone, that was the question, wasn't it?" Yûko glanced over at the older man.

"Ah, yes please. I want to do my job well, but I can't risk lives, can I?" the man explained as Yûko stood still thinking.

"Do you have sake?" Yûko suddenly asked from the man.

"Ah yes, well... I think there's a bottle downstairs. You want me to get that?" the man was eager to go and get it, even though he seemed suprised because of Yûko's strange request.

"Yes, please do so," Yûko nodded her head politely as the man turned to leave.

"Yûko-san, what are you thinking? This is no time for throwing a drinking party! You're unbelievable, we might not be able to get out of here alive and you're only thinking of booze!" Watanuki barked at his employer.

"Ah, calm down, Watanuki. Don't worry, I'm only doing this because I have to," Yûko looked around calmly as if Watanuki's outburst had had nothing to do with her.

"You have to do it...? I don't get it. And since when drinking has become an obligation for you?" Watanuki continued, even though Yûko didn't respond this time. She just calmly waited deep in her thoughts for the man to arrive. And when he did, she quietly took the bottle of sake from him.

"Sheesh, that woman... Some day she'll be the death of us," Watanuki muttered to himself as he watched Yûko opening the bottle of sake.

Instead of drinking it, Yûko seemed to taste it in her mouth for a moment, and then made slightly unpleased face. She went to the nearest window, pulled it open and spat the saké out.

Both Watanuki and Kawashira-san looked at Yûko, making puzzled faces.

"If someone wants to buy this house, you must make the client drink this sake. If the sake tastes normal, this house cannot harm that person. This bottle will be left here," Yûko explained as she placed the bottle to the corner of the room after closing it carefully.

"You mean.. It didn't taste normal in your mouth?" Watanuki still couldn't quite follow how drinking sake could be that important.

"Sake was originally used in ancient rituals and that is why evil spirits will affect on its taste. If something unpure and harmful is anywhere near sake, you will notice it in the taste. That is why person wanting this house must drink this sake before buying this house. If that person finds nothing wrong in the taste, this house can be no threat for him or her," Yûko made her thoughts out loud.

"What if someone who can notice something wrong in the sake buys the house any way?" Watanuki asked after a short silence.

"The consequences will be fatal," Yûko responded and this time the silence was longer and heavier.

"Well, I believe my work here is now done. You know how to pay this for me, don't you?" Yûko went over to Kawshira-san, who handed over a bunch of old and rusty keys to Yûko. Yûko quickly hid the keys inside her palm, quietly nodded and started to make her way out of the room.

"Ah, yes. Thank you so much for your help, Ichihara-san!" Man thanked and bowed deeply, even though Yûko had already turned away.

Watanuki followed her closely behind, he had no will at all to face those things in the corridor alone. When they got into the hallway, he could feel them even more clearly than before. He tried to ignore the presence of the vengeful spirits, but even though he didn't even look at them, he could tell exactly where they were.

He could feel the dark auras of the dead woman and the child. He could feel it so clearly, it was making him so sick that he could hardly stand it anymore. They would come and get him, he was certain of it.

He had no power to move anymore and the spirits were slowly but certainly coming closer, their black eyes gaping at him with fury. Soon, they would take a grip of him and pull him into hell for all eternity with them...

He could faintly feel through his haze how luckily Yûko instead of the ghosts took a grip of his hand and pulled him along once again. Somehow it seemed to work even though Watanuki knew he wasn't helping her in any way. In fact she seemed to drag him along all by herself.

'She's stronger than she seems...' Watanuki marked to himself as his head spun around feverishly.

The moment they were out of the gates of house's garden, Watanuki fell on his knees on the street. The asphalt felt cool and that made him notice that it was slowly getting dark.

'That's why the spirits were getting stronger... Yûko-san warned me about this,' Watanuki's tired head made the conclusions.

"Feeling any better?" Yûko had lowered herself in order to take a good look at his face.

"A bit... Yûko-san, what's wrong with that place? I have never experienced anything like that before..." Watanuki whispered as if he were afraid that the house itself was listening to them.

"Can you stand? I'll prefer to get further away from that place," Yûko responded as Watanuki slowly got up and started to walk with her.

'Even she feels uneasy around those things... What's going on?' Watanuki thought as he followed the witch.

"Some years ago, a family lived in that house. They were more or less something you could describe as a normal Japanese family: a husband, a wife, their son and they even had a cat as their pet. Unfortunately the woman, Kayako her name was, had fallen in love with the teacher of her 7-year-old son so passionately that it had become more like obsession. When Kayako's husband found that out, he was outraged. He drowned the cat and their son to the bathroom and killed his wife in the most painful way. Then he even went out to kill the teacher's pregnant wife... But after that, he disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him, even though it would make sense that Kayako would start her revenge with her killer. The reason why her and her son's spirits still linger here is that they want to make other people suffer because they had to suffer. If somebody dies with a great fury, a grudge will be born and it will pass on from a person to another," Yûko ended her gruesome story.

Now Watanuki finally understood that he had seen the pictures of that house in the newspapers. He could recall that some years ago that house and its residents had been the most selling topic in every tabloid you could imagine.

"That's terrible... Can't it be stopped?" shocked Watanuki claimed.

"Maybe it will wear out by itself or otherwise... It's impossible to tell. But it would demand lots of people with great mental powers to even make them weaker. That's how powerful it is. But don't worry, we will be alright, something like that can be handled for some time," Yûko chirped happily as if she was talking about a flu or something as trivial as that.

"I didn't ask about that!" Watanuki shouted angrily, what kind of a coward did she think he was?

"No, you didn't, but you were thinking about it. You're so worrying kind," Yûko's happy-go-lucky attitude didn't falter.

"Worrying kind? Who's worrying kind? First I had to come here through that freaky spirit highway and then I had to hang out in a haunted house! And you think I'm worrying kind?" Watanuki burst out, but Yûko simply chuckled to herself.

"I knew you would still be pissed because of the aurora paths. That's why I decided we should go back by a bus!" Yûko claimed happily as she stopped walking after reaching the nearest bus stop.

"So now you can use the bus? Why didn't you want to use the bus earlier? Yûko-san, you're hopeless," Watanuki whined as Yûko quietly smiled to herself.

Once again she had been able to turn Watanuki's thoughts away from the horrors they had experienced by provocating him. And it always worked.

* * *

-Special note: (1) It's very rude in Japanese culture to ignore the business card, if someone hands you a one: it's considered as the lack of respect.

- A/N: First of all, I'm so sorry it took so long! I'm still alive, but I've just started my studies in an university, so my life is quite a mess right now. I want to thank you all who reviewed, you guys rock! You're amazing! If it makes you feel any better, I've already started to work on my next chapter.

Oh yeah, this chapter was more horror-like than before. And yes, it was inspired by the famous horror film Ju-on (the Grudge). It didn't turn out as freaky as I hoped, but I did myself freak myself out when wrote this alone in my apartment in the middle of the night. Not very wise.

But anyway, please continue to support me! And don't you dare to forget to review!


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